Hi Everyone,
I would really appreciate your thoughts about my situation.
We are scheduled to go on a family trip with my in laws on June 26th on Allure of the Seas. This is our second family vacation- our first one was last year at Disney (which I planned, since we love it there so much.) We all agreed that, with the help of a travel agent, I would do it again this year. Since none of us really know about cruises AND we're leaving the country, we thought it would be beneficial to have a travel agent help us with the planning. My MIL, FIL, SIL, BIL, DH, and I are going, along with the kiddies- ages 5-11.
Anyway, I went to a large and reputable travel agency in January and told the agent what we were looking for. The family had already decided on a cruise, but we weren't sure which line. I also told her that none of us had been on a cruise in at least 10 years, so we needed help with planning excursions, shows, etc. I was very up front. She said it was no problem and we booked the trip with her that night. The agent told me that once our trip was paid in full, we would be able to check out the shows and excursions online. We paid in full in the beginning of April, at which point I asked her about the above. She told me that it would take a couple of days for Royal Caribbean to credit the account and that I could come in anytime thereafter and go over everything with her.
I called her in the beginning of May, as some health issues came up in the family and I couldn't go sooner. I made an appointment to go into the office and pick up our paperwork and plan some tours.
When I got there, she handed me a packet of information and told me I could do everything online. I asked about the shows and excursions and she replied, "well, it depends on what you like," and brushed me off. I was also concerned about dinner time and asked if she could book an early time slot and she said that I would have to do it online. She couldn't or wouldn't do it for me. She then told me I could call the cruise line if I had any questions about online check in, luggage tags,etc. I should've said something right there, but I went home instead and thought that maybe my expectations were too high. I went through the packet and she didn't even enclose a card.
So my question is this. Are travel agents supposed to do this for you (order luggage tags, help plan and schedule excursions, dinner) or are we supposed to do this ourselves? Were my expectations too high? I don't really know since it's been so long since I've used a travel agent.
I'm thinking about calling the agency and talking to a manager since I've spent so much time trying to research the excursions and figure everything out. I ordered the luggage tags (and I've never heard of a travel agent who didn't do that at the very least), checked us all in, booked dinner (thank goodness there was an open 5:30pm time slot), and reserved one show (the others are fully booked.) I think that this is something that she should have done for the money we are paying her.
I would really appreciate any and all opinions. I will definitely be back here today, but I'll be running in and out, so my responses may not be right away. Thank you so much for your help!
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